Dire Dagger and Radiant Sword
by Orceanos
Summary: -On Hiatus- [Medieval, Fantasy, AU] A general on the run with his friends and a mysterious assassin with unknown motives cross their ways, soon the destiny of the Eastern Provinces lies in their hand. Will they be able to protect their homes from war? Or will their world go down in war?
1. 01 Betrayal

**Salvete!**

 **I'm sorry for not uploading something since quite a long time, but my exams had kept me pretty busy. Also my story: Digimon Adventure 04 The next Generation i point where I don't know how to continue. So I decided to do something different to get a clear mind, long story short: This will be a medieval AU story.**

 **Even if I'm a history nerd and I'm pretty familiar with European and Japanese history, I decided to mix things up and from a historical point of view this will be very inaccurate. But at some point in the future I will write another medieval AU based on the Crusades, which will be very close to history.**

 **Also this story will contain fantasy elements like magic. If something in this story sounds very familiar to you look at the end of this chapter there is a list with things that inspired me.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.**

Betrayal

The night smelled good. Different then all the nights before. She closed her eyes and breathed in the fresh air. She felt how the oxygen was pumped into her muscles by her blood. It was cold up here, on the roof. A cloudless, cold autumn night in Kyoto.

She leaned against a chimney. The cold bricks pressed against her back. Her leather armour was too thin for this temperature. But she had to be agile. She pulled her leather gloves over the sleeves of her black leather armour. She checked the fit very accurate, she stretched her fingers and listened to the fine crack of her knuckles. She smiled.

Nearly half a month she had prepared herself. Doubts or angsts, which were unknown to her anyway, wouldn't stop her. In her head it had already happened, she just had to press one more button, so that it could become true in this reality. The time had come. Just one more moment.

On the street rumbled a buckboard over the paving stone. Noise came from the window of a house on the other side of the street. A few drunken men were talking loudly. A dog barked; doors clattered. This part of the town was never sleeping.

She focused on her breathing. In. Out. In. Out. Her breath cut through the cold air. Misty smoke, that left her lung, fine swaths, which dissolved into the night. The silence in her was absolute. Her mind was focused on a single target. It was inevitable and consequential.

A wind breeze blew over the roof, dragged on her cape and moved on over the roofs of Kyoto.

Everything was how she had planned it. But then a different sound filled the night, the sound of steel, the sound of swords that are drawn. Twenty men appeared on the street and positioned themselves in front of the house she was standing on.

She heard a loud bang and the gate of the stabled next to the house flew open and buckboard drawn by two horses came out. At the same time the front door opened and two men ran out of the house and attacked the men waiting for them.

She recognised them immediately the one who fought with shield and spear was the squire, the other person, the knight with the messy brown hair wielding a bastard sword, which glowed in the dark, was the person of her interest. She drew her daggers and walked to the edge of the roof. Sora smiled and jumped from the roof.

 **Flashback: Three days earlier.**

"This is insanity, Yamato!" yelled Taichi at his lord.

"It is necessary: We both know that there will be war with Tachikawa sooner or later. And I say we attack now. They won't be able to call all their troops in time and victory will be ours before the year is over." responded Lord Yamato Ishida calm.

"We can't win a war in winter!" Taichi was furious, this conversation became a tragedy.

"Don't forget your place Kamiya. I will bring the declaration of war to my council in four days, they will decide." Spoke Lord Ishida more strict then before.

Taichi sighed "The council fears you; they won't say something against your will."

A small smile appeared on Yamato's lips. "And you will lead my troops to victory General Kamiya, like you did so many times before. This discussion is over, you may leave now."

Taichi was about to respond something, but he kept his mouth shut, he knew that this was going nowhere. He bowed, turned on his heels and left Lord Ishida's private rooms quickly.

 **On the evening of the same day.**

Taichi stood in his bedroom and was packing clothes, parts of his amour and important documents in two chests. In the smaller one he put the really important things; in the bigger one he put the things that would be expandable in an emergency case.

He stopped when his squire entered the room. "Excuse me Sir Kamiya, Master Izumi has arrived and is waiting for you in the living room."

"Thank you Takato I'll meet him at once. Please go to my sister's room and tell her to also come to the living room."

Takato bowed and left. Taichi closed the chests and also left his room heading to the living room.

"Good to see you my friend." greeted Tai his guest, he smiled Koushiro looked exactly like the last time when he had seen him. Koushiro wore the same dark brown robe then the last time, with the same black leather belt which looked like it was too big for him, just like his thick leather gauntlets which also looked like they were more than one size too big.

The young Master smiled. "It's always good to see you in one piece, Kamiya."

Taichi chuckled. "You know I give my best."

They both laughed and Hikari, Taichi's sister, entered the living room together with Takato. She wore a simple beige dress with a small leather belt around her waist.

"Master Izumi!" cheered Hikari when she saw her brother's friend. Among the friends of her brother she had always liked Koushiro the most, he was always very friendly and nice, not like that ice cold Yamato or that show off Daisuke, who always tried to flirt with her.

"I'm pleased to see you Lady Kamiya, you're as beautiful as always." greeted her Koushiro, they both laughed and hugged.

Normally Taichi would be very uneasy with someone hugging his sister, but he trusted Koushiro with his life and so it didn't bother him that Koushiro and Hikari where so close.

"Takato please stay with us."

Similar to Koushiro, Takato was also one of the few Taichi could trust without any doubts.

"My friends, there is a reason why we are meeting tonight. Lord Ishida is preparing for war against Lord Tachikawa. He wants me to lead the troops into a winter war." explained Taichi.

"These are terrible news, we can't march into war again, the last one was barely half a year ago." mentioned Koushiro matter-of-factly.

"What are you going to do brother?" asked Hikari very concerned.

"I will disobey Lord Ishida's orders. I will leave Kyoto in three days and I will try to get to the castle of lord Tachikawa to warn him. Also I will offer him my services." told them Taichi like it was nothing.

"Taichi this is as insane as Yamato's plan to conquer to Lord Tachikawa's land. Do you think you can leave Kyoto just like that and only the gods know what lord Tachikawa will do to you, you are lord Ishida's first general, you are one of the most famous men in the Eastern Provinces." explained Koushiro quite sternly.

"Koushiro you don't understand Yamato is possessed by the idea to unite the Eastern Provinces by sword under his own banner. He wants the Eastern Provinces united by any means necessary to become as powerful as the Lilies Empire. But a war can't be the solution, I have to do what is necessary to stop Yamato." spoke Tai angry now.

"Brother why you? And what will happen to me when you leave?" asked Hikari nearly to crying.

"I'm so sorry Hikari but I have to do it, I'm also responsible for this situation I won a lot of battles for Yamato. I have to stop him; maybe I'm the only one who can stop him at all. I must find a way to stop Yamato without killing him to prevent a civil war. Hikari you can go to sir Mochizuki. He's not the smartest but he had fought at my side for many times, he's an honourable man and you know his daughter Maiko. I spoke to him earlier." Taichi spoke in a tone that left no room for discussion.

"And what is my role in your plan?" asked Koushiro while he raised an eyebrow.

"I need you to rent a buckboard and a boat for me. You're a Master no one will suspect anything. The western Watergate is still not repaired, it'll be my way out." explained Taichi.

A weak smile appeared on Koushiro's face. "Do you really think I would let you go alone? I will accompany you; someone has to make sure that you won't get killed."

"I will also go with you Sir Kamiya, no matter where you will go, I'll also be there." said Takato confident.

Taichi looked at Takato and Koushiro. "You don't have to come with me; it will be dangerous I don't even know if everything will go according to my plan."

Koushiro sighed annoyed. "That is exactly why I want to help you." Takato nodded to show that he also thought so.

"I don't think that this is the right thing to do, but if you are convinced that this is the right way, I wish you the best." Hikari said almost crying.

"Thank you, all of you for your support. So it is settled we'll leave in three days."

 **Flashback end.**

In the moment Sora jumped from the roof her instincts took control of her body. Two men with the crest of Lord Ishida on their back were about to attack Sir Kamiya from behind. With her knee first Sora crushed into the back of one soldier in the same moment she stabbed the soldier in his exposed neck a few times. The soldier next to her looked very surprised at her, but before he could react she had cut his throat twice.

She pushed her daggers back into their sheaths; in the same movement she pulled two throwing knives out of her quiver. Sora threw the knives at the two soldiers who stood the closest to her. One got hit in the eye and was dead before his body hit the ground, the other one had been able to protect his face from the throwing weapon, but he was confused by meeting a completely stranger enemy. She took advantage of his confusion and ran at him, the stroke of his sword was way too slow to endanger her, she simply ducked to dodge the attack, and before he could attack again she had her dagger back in her hand and cut his throat.

From the corner of her eye she saw another attack coming. A soldier attacked her with a halberd, with a quick jump to the right she avoided to be hit by the thrust. Sora looked at the soldier, he prepared for another thrust, she already thought about how she would kill him. But then she noticed that the solder with the halberd wasn't a very experienced fighter. He was a young man, maybe even younger than her and every movement of him showed how insecure he was. She wouldn't kill a teenage boy, the only reason she was here was because she wanted to change things and killing a teenage boy wouldn't change anything for good.

Sora focused on the energy inside the onyx, which hung around her neck on a dark silver chain, she felt the energy flowing through her chest, into her arm, it reached her left hand, and she gathered the energy in her fist with a small gesture of her hand. She opened her hand and released a small wave of black mist, barely visible in the night, into the young soldier's face. The black mist blinded him temporally and he stumbled over his own feet. Sora quickly closed the distance and kicked him hard between his legs making sure he wouldn't stand up again so fast.

The next thing she noticed was that someone was behind her, she wanted to turn around but it was already too late, she felt a hand on her back and then a sharp pain went through her whole body, her limbs became numb, and her vision became blurry, until everything was black.

The soldiers had attacked Takato first because he looked like an easy target, not much squires fought with shield and spear. Also the attacking soldiers had order not to kill Taichi. But Takato gave them on hell of a fight. With his shield and spear combination he manged to keep the attackers on a comfortable distance, while Taichi made sure that none would be able to attack Takato from behind.

The fight would have been over very quickly if Koushiro would have been able to use his powers with their full force, but it was too dangerous to do so in the middle of a city. So Koushiro had to rely on his short sword, which he swung with a speed and dexterity no one had expected from him.

At first no one had noticed the attacker from the roof, but Koushiro had noticed her in the moment she had used the power of her gem. In that moment he suspected what she was, he had quickly walked behind her and had paralyzed her. Koushiro was very keen to ask her a few questions; he had picked her up and carried her to the buckboard.

Meanwhile Taichi and Takato had managed to injure or disarm the bigger part of the attacking soldiers, so that the attackers were on the run now. In Taichi's opinion the fight had been a bit too easy.

"Takato go back into the house and get Hikari, a few of those men had been Mochizuki's he must have betrayed us." commanded Tai.

He was surprised when he saw Koushiro with a young woman in his arm. 2Koushiro what's the meaning of that?"

"Trust me Tai I'll tell you on the boat, right now we have to hurry. She 'll be paralysed for the rest of the night but you should bind her just to be sure." With that said he put they young woman on the buckboard and took the reins.

In this moment Takato came back with Hikari. They both sat down on the buckboard, Taichi took his seat as last always looking for potential pursuers. For the first time in his life he was happy that his house was not inside on the inner castle walls.

"Tai what is going on here?" asked Hikari very confused.

"It looks like Mochizuki has betrayed me, those soldiers wanted to arrest me so we had to improvise." He tried to sound funny to cheer her up a bit, but Hikari was dead serious. "Do you think this is funny? And who's that girl?"

Tai sighed heavily. "No it's not funny, I'm sorry and that girl is part of Koushiro's improvisation."

For Hikari this was so unreal, yesterday she was the sister of an honourable general and now she was on the run from her Lord, she started to cry and to seek for comfort in the arms of her brother. Taichi wrapped his arms around his little sister and tried to comfort her as much as possible, even if it was difficult because of his armour.

As soon as they had headed to the small merchant harbour inside the city everything had went exactly like Tai had planned it. No one had followed them or had tried to stop them; they even had enough time to move the chests with their personal belongings from the buckboard onto the boat. Their prisoner was locked in a windowless room and the Watergate had been unguarded.

Now Taichi was standing on the quarterdeck and watched how the silhouette of Kyoto became smaller behind them. At first he had been concerned because the boat was really bulk, but now he was quite happy about it the boat had three different cabins, one at bow and two at stern and with only one mast and sail it was rather easy to handle. They only used it to travel on the river anyway.

Eventually Koushiro came to the quarterdeck of the small hulk.

"Done with everything?" asked Taichi.

"Yes, I think we can go to the cabin now and talk about things." answered Koushiro.

Tai nodded." Takato you take the rudder, keep us in the middle of the river the Kamo is calm in this season."

"Yes Sir." replied Takato instantly.

On the way to the cabin Taichi unbuckled his sword belt and took off his coat of plates. Inside the cabin he finally was able to take off his chain mail armour, which he wore under his coat of plates. He sat down on his bed in just his gambeson and linen under-cloths. Koushiro sat down beside him and started to explain his theories about the young girl they had imprisoned.

 **I end this chapter here, because the next part will focus more on the background of the main characters. But this will be part of the chapter after the next; the next chapter will be a lore/background of the world/explanation/general information chapter and won't contain story elements.**

 **Anyway I hope you liked this first chapter. I'd love to her your opinions.**

 **So pls R &R and I see you soon.**

 **sayonara**

 **And here is the promised list of things that inspired me:**

 **Fanfictions: Dark Arrow by** **Marie Darkholme** **, Inventionibus by** **Basara-Jay**

 **Books: A song of Ice and Fire, the medieval, fantasy stories of Markus Heitz; Wolfgang & Heike Hohlbein; Kay Meyer**

 **Video Games: The Elder Scrolls series, Assassin's Creed, Heroes of Might and Magic V/VI**

HHHh


	2. 02 General Information

**As promised the General Information chapter.**

 **The map:**

The relevant countries for this story (and eventual sequels) are the four main islands of Japan, China and Korea.

The four main islands of Japan are the Eastern Provinces, while China and Korea are the Western Continent. The South East Asia region will be mentioned in later chapters but won't be a location. All other lands of the world are there but will be completely irrelevant for the story.

 **The political division of the map:**

The Eastern Provinces:

Honshu is under complete control of Lord Yamato Ishida. The north of Honshu is de facto unclaimed land, because the land is covered by very big forests and there are no settlements.

Shikoku is a kingdom that lives mostly from Agra culture. The royal family of Shikoku is related to the Ishidas since a very long time. Also the most Masters are from Shikoku.

Kyushu is the home of the Tachikawa and is completely under their control, they are the last military force in the Eastern Provinces that stands against Lord Yamato Ishida.

Hokkaido also known as the Mysterious Island, there are only three known cities on the Island: Sapporo, Hakodate and Asahikawa. All three cities have their own leaders. The island is not claimed by a political force because it is a very poor island of farmers.

The Western Continent:

Under control of the Lilies Empire. With the only exception of Busan. The free city of Busan is the biggest and richest city in the eastern part of the world; the city became rich by trading.

 **Cultural:**

The Western Continent:

The Lilies Empire is basically 13th century France with Beijing a capital city, they are the stereotypical medieval kingdom. Originally the Lilies Empire had been located much more in the west, but they had to flee from their home a few hundred years ago for unknown reasons.

The free city of Busan is an eastern version of medieval Venice. The city is ruled by the Council of Ten. Every five years ten citizens get elected to rule. Busan is the only democracy on the map, but is also a place full of corruption, crime and other dark secrets.

The Eastern Provinces:

Under the reign of Lord Hiroaki Ishida, Yamato's father, the kingdom of Ishida had started to adept cultural traits from the Lilies Empire, especially in military and infrastructural aspects. The political capital is Kyoto while Osaka is the biggest city of the Eastern Provinces. Also the Hightower, the school for the Masters, is located in Osaka.

The kingdom of Tachikawa, with Satsuma as their capital city, is very traditional and follows the rules of Bushido. The Tachikawa kingdom represents the mid-16th century Japan (segoku-jidai).

The north of Honshu also known as the great forests is inhabited by the Mori a semi nomadic tribe that lives in a strictly pacifistic culture. They are a much older race than the humans; the people from the Lilies Empire call them Wood Elves. The Mori are in an economic alliance with Lord Yamato Ishida. The Ishida troops protect the Mori from raiders and other similar dangers, while the Mori supply the Ishida kingdom with the finest wood.

 **I think that's enough for now. Other important things will be explained in the story or later in a second General Information chapter. And something I forgot to mention in the first chapter: Love will have a major roll later in this story. But I won't reveal the pairings for, to keep up some tension.**

 **To current events:**

 **De Dom gehört zu Meenz am Rhoi, wie Fassenacht, Weck, Worscht un Woi!**

 **Helau!**


	3. 03 Unusual Alliance

**Here we go the next chapter.** _ **Italic**_ **= character thoughts**

Unusual Alliance

"Why. I can smile, and murder while I smile." W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Part 3, III, 2

The ground was slightly shaking. It felt a bit like the ground was moving but she wasn't. She heard the dull sound of water clashing against wood. A ship. She was on a ship.

 _Good_.

Slowly she tried to open her eyes, while she thought about the last night. _Seems like I managed to get caught._

"You woke up huh?" she heard a surprisingly gentle voice. Sora blinked a few times. She was in a cabin of a ship illuminated by the sunlight. It was the squire who had talked to her. _The boy who had fought with shield and spear._

"Obviously." She answered harsh. He gave her a weak smile and left the cabin. Sora tried to move but her arms were chained to the wall, she could only move her legs freely. Her eyes widened in shock when she realized that she wasn't wearing her own clothes anymore. The clothes she was currently wearing were too big for her and scratchy.

Slightly panicking she looked around the room to find her personal belongings, but she didn't saw them. The door to the cabin opened again Kamiya entered first followed by his sister and the Master.

"Where are my clothes?" hissed Sora.

"On the table." answered the Master matter-of-factly. Because of her position, sitting on the ground, she hadn't been able to see what was on the table.

"I want you to know that it was my sister who had changed your clothes, no one has violated your honour." said Taichi with a light smile and a warm voice. His sister in the background nodded and tried to smile.

 _Why are they all so kind to me? This is clearly not the interrogation I would have expected._

Eventually the Master started to speak; he looked quite stern at Sora. "Who are you?"

"No one."

"And what are you, _no one_?"

"Nothing."

"And therefore you need daggers, throwing knives, a black gem and a leather armour?"

"That is my business not yours!"

"Why have you been in Kyoto yesterday and why did you help us?"

"I had my reasons."

"I see if you are not willing to collaborate then maybe it was a mistake to keep you alive." The master turned around and left the cabin.

 _What the hell is going on here? This was the worst interrogation ever._

"Sister please bring me the tray I had prepared earlier and then please leave me alone with her."

 _Finally, Kamiya is making his turn._

Hikari nodded and left the cabin. She had to admit that he was quite a bit impressive and charismatic, even if he was just standing there with simple leather pants and a simple linen shirt.

"You know who I'm." his incredible cocky grin told her that it wasn't a question from him.

 _Ridiculous._

"Of course I know, Taichi Kamiya the young dragon of the east, the radiant sword of Yamato Ishida." she replied calm.

His grin became even bigger when he heard the nicknames the small folk had given to him. In this moment his sister came back into the cabin balancing a tray on her right hand. She put the tray down on the table and left the cabin, Sora wasn't able to see what was on the tray. He walked over to the table and took two clay cups from the tray. Taichi sat down in front of Sora and put the cups between them.

"You don't have to worry, it is only water."

Instead of responding to him she just clapped the handcuffs behind her back together.

"Oh yeah I forgot. Alright Lady _no one_ let's play a game, you give me answers and I give you something to drink."

"Weren't the answers I gave you friend enough?" she asked mockingly.

"No and before we repeat this nonsense, me and my friend already figured some things out about you we just want to hear it from you. I know that you are an assassin of the shadow Brotherhood, including the fact that your equipment has a very high quality and that you used magic; you must be one of the better ones. So I want to know: Who are you?"

"It really doesn't matter at all." she answered bored

He sighed. "You really don't want to make this easy, don't you?"

She just shrugged.

"Girl this is nothing personal between us two, you are not the first who wanted to kill me, but I want to know who hired you to kill me and why you didn't kill me. Also all your answers so far had been completely irrelevant expect for one. You said you had your own reasons and I could feel that this had been an honest answer. So tell me now what I want to her!" the warmth and gentleness in his voice had vanished, his brown eyes had become stern and his voice had become significantly sharper and demanding.

 _How can someone be so stubborn?_

"I couldn't do it, okay! For the first time in my life I couldn't kill my target!" she yelled at him. "But that really doesn't matter anymore."

"Why?" it was such a simple question from him and yet so difficult.

"I sent the message of your death to the Brotherhood, as soon as they will notice that it was a lie they will hunt me until I'm dead." she said very calm.

Taichi sighed heavily and sat down again; he took hold of one cup and brought it to her lips. "Here we had a deal, try to take small sips at first."

He carefully pressed the round edge of the cup between her lips, she was thankful for the cold liquid and drank hasty. When he put the cup away a small trail of water flowed from her lips to her chin, he whipped it away with his sleeve. Sora blushed slightly it was very embarrassing for her.

"What's your name?" he asked with a caring voice.

For just a little moment she thought about her current situation and how different everything could have been if she would have met him under different circumstances.

"Sora." _Damn he had manged to distract me._

"Well Sora please tell me who hired you to kill me?" he asked friendly but determined.

"I honestly don't know I never know who the principal for a contract kill is. I got a message with your name and some information where you live, everything else was up to me." She explained like it was the most normal thing I the world.

"And why am I still alive? Why weren't you able to kill me?"

"Believe me it is not important. I betrayed the Shadow Brotherhood and they will kill me for that and you too if you don't hide your identity." For the first time her voice sounded a bit desperate.

Taichi breathed out heavily and sat up, he walked to the table and refilled their cups and also picked up a clay bowl filled with rice. He returned to Sora and put everything between them and sat down again.

He looked deep into her mysterious crimson eyes and for a moment Sora felt like she would get lost in the depth of his brown eyes.

"Sora if you tell me everything, the whole truth, I swear I will protect you from everyone who wants to harm you." He offered to her.

Sora was very surprised; she would never have expected such an offer. She looked baffled at him. While he had pulled out some chopsticks and had started to eat some rice. _How could he promise something like this to me? I'm an assassin a murderer._

"Why? I'm not a good person, I'm a killer." she was almost insulting him.

"I know, but the times are changing and I want to secure a proper future for my sister and friends, a peaceful future. And I have a feeling that I need you for that and if that means I have to protect you I'll do it gladly." he spoke full of confidents.

"What am I for you?" she asked still not believing what she just had heard.

"You are the key. You helped me to escape from Kyoto. I don't if I managed to do that without your help, also you are the only one who could help me finding the ones who gave order to kill me." he said with his gentle voice.

Sora was overwhelmed, this man, he was so grateful to her, so protective. All the time in her life she had been alone or she had been exploited by the Shadow Brotherhood. She had hid herself in a shell of darkness and solitude and now with his warmth he pierced right through that shell.

Sora sighed heavily. "Innocence."

"What?" asked Taichi surprised and a few rice grains fell out oh is mouth.

"The reason why I couldn't kill you was innocence. Usually when I had to assassinate someone, I made a background check of my target and it became pretty obvious why I had to assassinate someone: sometimes it was an uncomfortable politician, a corrupt official, or a gang leader, or a man who was cheating on his wife or a child molester; there had always been a good reason to kill someone. But after a background check of you I didn't saw a reason to kill you, so I made another check and collected even more information about you, but nothing. You and your sister were orphans adopted by Lord Hiroki Ishida, you became the best friend of Yamato Ishida, but you never became a threat to the throne for him. You became a formidable soldier and general, respected by his enemies loved by his men. When Yamato Ishida became the new Lord, you became his first general and won many battles for him, without being unnecessary cruel or bloodthirsty. So I didn't try to kill you instead I started to spy on you and your sister. And I saw how deeply you cared for her, on day on the market I was able to look in her eyes and I saw the same innocence in her eyes I saw in yours; that was when I decided not to harm you or your sister." her explanation had made him speechless.

Taichi let her drink again while he tried to recapitalize in his head what she just had told him.

"Thanks I really appreciate your honesty." he stood up and left the cabin.

Taichi hurried into the cabin he shared with Koushiro.

"What in the name of the gods was that?" he asked referring to his first try of an interrogation.

Koushiro raised an eye brow. "What did you expect? I'm a Master a man of science and not someone who is a master at interrogations. But you spend quite some time with her what did she tell you?"

Taichi scratched the back of his head. "Well her name is Sora, as expected she is an assassin of the shadow Brotherhood, she swears she doesn't know the principal behind the contract and she didn't try to kill me because it seemed like had discovered her moral. She claims that she is chased by the Shadow Brotherhood because of her treason."

Koushiro looked in Taichi's eyes and saw something suspicious. "And what else?"

Taichi avoided his gaze. "I offered her my protection if she helps me to find the one who gave order to kill me."

"Please tell me that this is a bad joke."

Taichi looked confused at Koushiro. "I'm dead serious about this. If she helps me I help her, I keep my word. Beside it was you, who captured her and thought it would be a good idea to have her as a prisoner."

"This is not what I had wanted I had planned to somehow get rid of her in Obama. This won't end well and I know that look in your eyes. You look at her the same way you looked at that maid with the giant bust back in Yamato's palace."

A light blush appeared on Taichi's cheeks. "This is something completely different and please don't mention that maid again; it was a stupid teenage crush five years ago."

"Oh I see; this time it is something serious? Teaming up with an assassin, how can you even expect that this will work out without being us killed?" the only thing Koushiro did now was shaking his head.

"I know it sounds stupid, but I really think that she could be helpful and to a certain point I trust her."

"Fine but if she does something that will hurt you, or Hikari, or Takato or me; I will interfere, no matter what consequences it will have for her." said Koushiro very stern.

"Thanks my friend, I hope you can understand that she really is something special." Taichi left their shared cabin after the exhausting conversation.

He went to the quarterdeck to join his squire Takato; Taichi admired him a bit in this moment since he got out of bed Takato walked around in the sun in his chainmail armour and coat of arms.

"I'll take the rudder, you can go and eat something, Hikari has made some rice." offered Taichi.

Takato nodded thankfully and left Taichi alone. Quickly Taichi's mind was mostly occupied by Sora and the things she had said.

Sora looked desperately at the half full bowl of rice in front of her, she was really hungry. She hadn't eaten something since two days but the handcuffs and iron chains made it impossible for her to grab the bowl of rice and eat something from it. Yet she was still too proud to yell for help, she didn't want them to think that she was weak. While she had talked to Taichi she had already showed too much weakness. _His goddamn big brown eyes are weakening me. One deep look and I completely forgot who I am; it is all an illusion there is no happy end for me._

Something like this had never happened to her before. She recalled her whole life as good as possible in her mind to see if she ever had felt something like this before in her life.

She thought about her days as an orphan in Osaka and then when she had joined a thieve guild at the ag of ten. She had a great talent for pickpocketing. The few people in the thieve guild she had trusted all had been killed during one of Hiroki Ishida's purges.

She had left Osaka and had found shelter in the house of an old woman in the countryside; unfortunately the old woman had lured her into the claws of the shadow Brotherhood. During the time she was in-training at the Shadow Brotherhood the invigilators had made sure that none of the apprentices would interact to much with each other. After she had become a sworn assassin, she always had to work alone leaving no trace behind.

But now that Taichi had entered her life in the most unconventional way she felt like everything she had been missing in her life might be given to her through him. The way he had talked to her and the offer he had made, had made her thinking about her decisions.

 _Is he really able to protect me? I thought I had accepted my death but now I'm not so sure about this anymore. Well there is only way to find out: I'll help him .It could be worth it._

Taichi was sitting on his bed and was sharping his bastard sword. Takato had taken over the rudder again. While was sharping his thumb glide over the amber gem that was part of the cross guard; the Radiant Sword he hadn't heard this name since a very long time.

A loud knock that came from the other cabin pushed him out of his thoughts. _It must be Sora._ While he walked to the other cabin he noticed Hikari and Koushiro on the quarterdeck reading in a book together.

Taichi knocked at the cabin door and entered without waiting for a response. She was sitting on the ground kicking against the wall.

"What's the matter?" he asked harsher than he wanted.

"I'm hungry." she said shy.

He nodded. "Ok, but don't try to do something you would regret." Tai walked closer to her, took a key out of his boot and unlocked the handcuff and chain on her right wrist.

"Thank you." she said happy to be able to move one of her hands.

He also gave her some chopsticks from the tray.

She grabbed the bowl and quickly ate the remaining rice. A little smile appeared on Taichi's face when he saw how quick she ate.

"You feel better now?" Taichi asked with a grin.

"Yes thanks again."

Taichi walked back to the table and picked up Sora's onyx necklace. "So you know how to use a gem for magic purposes?"

"Obviously." Sora immediately changed into her interrogation mode.

"Who taught you this?" he asked completely ignoring her bored voice.

"The Brotherhood it had been the last step to become a master assassin." It surprised herself how freely she told him something about her past, but still every time he talked to her she felt so secure. Taichi nodded and an awkward silence started to build up.

Eventually Sora sighed heavily. "I made up my mind and I will help you. I don't know if I can help you with the Tachikawa, but I can help you to escape from the Ishida and I have an idea who we can find out who wants your death."

"Really, I'd lov… I mean it would be nice to have your help. But I need a few more details." A light shade of red was on Taichi's cheeks.

"To make it short: I know someone who gathers information about everything this person maybe knows something about the one who gave order to kill you." she explained.

"And where would we find such a person and what's the name of this person?" he asked very curious.

"The person lives in Busan and is called: The Vixen." She answered him honestly.

"In Busan? I never had planned to cross the east lilies sea and especially not to visit that den of iniquity Busan." Taichi was noticeable upset about her answer.

"That is the only way I know to give you the information you want, beside if you leave the Eastern Provinces and enter the Tachikawa kingdom from Busan, it will be incredible hard for Lord Ishida to track you down." she tried to convince him.

"I'll have to think about this first. According to my plan we'll arrive in Obama this afternoon, tomorrow we wold rent a ship with crew and sail to the kingdom of Tachikawa by following the coast."

Before Sora could answer the door opened and Koushiro stood in the doorframe. "We are just half a mile away from Obama. We should get ready now."

"Thank you Koushiro, we'll come in a moment." Answered him Taichi quickly, Koushiro nodded with a sceptical expression on his face.

Taichi gave Sora a small encouraging nod and also left the cabin. He walked into his cabin and changed into his armour. First he put on his Gambeson and Greaves over his linen trousers. At first he had only planned to wear his coat of plates, but he decided to also wear his iron gauntlets. On his way to cabin in which Sora was he put on his sword belt.

When he had entered her cabin he took her gem and daggers and put them into a small bag on his belt. He unlocked the other chains that kept her bound and gave her, her armour back.

"You can change your clothes if you want to." he offered her with his warm voice.

Sora actually was very thankful for that, the woollen clothes she wore were the definition of uncomfortableness.

But Taichi's voice became a bit sterner again. "I'm sorry but I can't leave you alone here."

For a short moment Sora looked very insecure at him, she tightened her grip on the armour and moved to the darkest corner of the cabin.

She quickly took of the woollen clothes, leaving her only in her rather skimpy under garments. Sora took a quick glare at Taichi and noticed that his eyes were only focused on her face not the rest of her body. She quickly put on her trousers and a simple shirt both made of black linen with a very tight fitting. Next she put on her leather trousers and put on her leather torso armour. Finally Sora slipped in her leather greaves and completed her armour with the long leather gauntlets that reached up to her elbows.

Sora nodded to show him that she was ready, he gestured to the door with his hand, giving her the sign to leave the cabin. Taichi followed her closely to the quarterdeck where they were greeted by the afternoon sun.

Sora immediately walked over to the railing taking hold of it. Koushiro stood next to her and made sure she wouldn't escape from the boat. But she only stood there with eyes closed and inhaled the clean air with deep breaths.

Taichi stood on the other side of the quarterdeck and looked in awe at her. Her shoulder length red hair was waving in the gentle breeze and the sun reflected a bit on her tight leather armour, Taichi was overwhelmed by her beauty and for a moment he completely forgot what a dangerous person she was.

Koushiro rolled his eyes annoyed when he met Taichi's gaze for a moment. It was really hard for Taichi not to stare at her, but eventually he managed to take his eyes away from her and walked over to Koushiro.

"What a surprising turn of events." said Koushiro sarcastically.

"She agreed to help us, especially to find the principal who wants my death. Unfortunately we need to visit Busan to meet a contact of her named The Vixen." explained Taichi.

"I really don't like that idea, but I know your goddamn stubbornness to well, I'll stay with you until the end. But don't forget I'll always keep an eye open."

"thank you I know it is not easy, but I really think it is the right thing to do." He put a hand on Koushiro's shoulder while he walked over to Hikari.

For a short moment he turned his head to look at Sora once more, right in this moment Sora also turned her head and Tai was in heaven as he saw the most beautiful smile in the world.

 **Well this chapter had been longer than expected and also contained much more dialogue than originally planned, but I'm quite happy about it. Also I changed my plans for this story a bit, I recently started to play D &D and Warhammer again and so I decided to include more high-fantasy elements in this story than originally planned. In the next chapter I will reveal the last main character for this; take a guess who it will be. **

**As always pls R &R and I see you soon.**

 **sayonara**


	4. 04 Busan and the Vixen

**Finally the next chapter for you is up! This will be the last chapter for quite some time, because I'll try to continue writing on my other fic 'Digimon Adventure 04: The next Generation'. Wish me luck.**

 **Busan and the Vixen**

"There are more things in heaven and earth,

Then are dreamt of in your philosophy." Hamlet, 1, 5

Taichi was happy to finally get an opportunity to find something out about the principal who gave order for a contract kill, on the other hand he felt uneasy to visit Busan. This city was absolutely the wrong place to be for his 15 year old sister Hikari and also for his 16 year old squire Takato. At least he didn't have to worry about Takato; the boy hadn't shown any interest in women or men yet.

As soon as they saw the city walls of Obama in the far distance, Koushiro went back into the cabin he shared with Taichi. He came back quickly giving everyone except Sora a long, but thin, dark brown cloak.

"I assume you would prefer to wear your own cloak?" he asked surprisingly friendly.

"Yes, it's under deck." Sora gave her best to sound friendly, even if she didn't like the Master yet.

Taichi walked up to the quarterdeck next to Takato, so that he could talk to everyone.

"During our stay in Obama and Busan we'll have to hide our identity, so never tell anyone your last name and we will only use nicknames when we talk to each other."

Sora looked a bit confused at the others. "Nick names?"

"Just call me Kari." Taichi's sister spoke with a gentle smile; somehow she had already found a soft spot in her hart for Sora.

Koushiro forced a smile on his face. "You can call me Izzy."

For a moment Sora looked expectant at Taichi. He smiled at her with a sheepishly grin. "I'll be just Tai. And Takato well will stay Takato since it is a very common name."

Takato shrugged his shoulders and was unsecure if this was a good thing or not. She didn't know why but for a short moment Sora felt a little bit sorry for Takato. Taichi walked down from the quarterdeck back to his cabin.

"Taichi, wait please." She called after him."

"Huh? You want to talk about something?" he asked her.

"Yes. I absolutely agree with your plan to stay as anonymous as possible and if you don't mind I could help you even more with that task. I only need my gem and I can make sure that nobody will recognize us." She said with an honest smile.

Koushiro who had overheard their conversation stepped closer and looked curious at Sora "Elaborate!"

"With my gem I have the ability to make all our faces unrecognizable, for everyone who will see us we will just be strangers." She looked challenging at Koushiro "and before you ask; no I'm not able to kill someone with the powers of my gem."

Koushiro wasn't exactly happy and satisfied with her answer but before he could say something, Taichi had already given her the onyx necklace.

"I hope I won't regret trusting you Sora."

She smiled at him. "You don't have to fear me."

Moments later Sora started to feel the energy, guided it through her gem into her body, until it reached her hand. She touched everyone's forehead and murmured. "Ire sine vertigo."

For a short moment they felt a cold chill on their faces and then everything was normal again. Sora whipped the sweat drops from her face and took a few heavy breaths. "As soon as you put on the hoods of your cloaks the spell will unfold its effect. But don't forget the spell will only work as long as some shadows are on your face."

Taichi carefully put his hand on her shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. "Thank you Sora."

It had taken them a bit longer than expected to enter the river harbour of Obama, Koushiro had taken the rudder to manoeuvre the ship next to a quay. A city official and two boys were waiting for them. Taichi threw two ropes to the boys, which they used to moor the small hulk. Takato put a plank from the ship to the quay so that they had an easy way to leave the ship.

At first only Taichi and Koushiro left the boat to speak with the city official.

The city official approached them directly. "Welcome to Obama. Your name and five gold please." he spoke routinely.

Taichi sighed and took out a small bag filled with coins. "Let's say I give you fifteen gold and we forget the name."

The official smirked. "Twenty and I will forget you, your comrades and your ship."

"Fine." Taichi handed the man the gold.

The city official nodded, turned around and left without any more words. The two boys were also about to leave.

"Hold on boys, I have a job for you." Taichi yelled after them.

The boys turned around and one of them started to talk. "What can we do for you sir?"

"Take the luggage from the ship and bring it to a cheap inn next to the sea harbour. Afterwards you'll forget that you ever met me." Taichi explained quickly.

"Of course sir, you can trust us we know the best inn at the harbour."

Taichi smiled weakly. "I'm pretty sure about that."

One of the boys took a handcart that was standing on the quay while the other boy took the trunks with the personal belongings of Taichi, Koushiro, Takato and Hikari. The unspoken promise of good gold made the boys work really fast. A little while later they stood in front of an inn. Taichi looked at his companions. "Please wait here I go in alone first. " The others nodded and Taichi entered the inn.

Even if it was early afternoon and the stun was still shining bright outside, inside the inn the light was very dim. The windows of the inn were coated with a thick layer of dust and a very unpleasant smell of old ale, sake and sweat filled the guest room.

A thick old man with a white beard and a very big hook nose was standing behind the bar and was cleaning some wooden jugs with a dirty cloth. As Taichi had approached the bar the man ignored him at first. Realizing that the man wouldn't do something as long he wasn't asking, tasking spoke rather harsh to him.

"I need two rooms for the night, quiet rooms."

"For whom?" the man asked disinterested.

"For me and my friends, they are waiting outside." Taichi answered him.

The old man raised an eyebrow. "Names?"

"Not necessary!" Taichi answered with some emphasis.

"Alright, two rooms you said? For how many person in total?"

Looking at the man's face Taichi realized that this wouldn't be cheap. "Two rooms, five persons in total. And a meal for tonight."

For a short moment Taichi could see a greedy shine in the man's eyes. "Thirty gold and your word that you'll stay out of trouble in my inn."

Taichi forced a smile on his face. "Fine but I really hope that the food will be good."

A mischievous smile appeared on the man's face when Taichi gave him the gold.

"You'd be surprised." he gave Taichi two keys "On the second floor the last two rooms on the right side."

"Thank you." Taichi went outside and told his friends about their stay for the night. The two friends took the luggage and brought it to the rooms Taichi had paid for; he gave each of them five gold.

"For your effort and please forget that you have met me." The boys nodded and left quickly.

Taichi made Koushiro nearly faint when he told him that one room was for the men and one for the women. For Koushiro it was unbelievable how much Taichi already trusted the assassin, but Taichi made clear that there was no discussion about his decision.

While everyone was on his own business in the rooms, Taichi went to the man behind the bar once more.

"How can I help?" asked the man now friendlier.

"I and my friends need a quick passage to Busan, without asking many questions." Taichi said with a low voice while he put two gold coins on the counter.

The man avoided to look at him. "I don't know there are many ships in the harbour."

Taichi sighed heavily and put three gold on the counter a big grin appeared on the man's face revealing his yellow teeth. "Quay 6, there is a ship the 'Golden Hinde', they'll take you to Busan real quick without much questions, as long as the payment is good."

"Thank you." replied Taichi as calm as possible, but the greediness of the man had really pissed him off.

Their meal in the evening had been surprisingly good, even if the dark sauce with rice hadn't looked good; the taste had been really nice. They had gone to bed early, so that they could get up at sunrise. Neither Taichi nor Hikari had a problem with Sora sharing a room with Hikari, only Koushiro had mentioned his doubts again but Taichi had ignored them.

The group stood up with the first sun rays and left the inn, this time they had to carry their luggage themselves. It was a cold and misty, reminding them that it was already autumn; in this moment they were thankful for their cloaks.

For Hikari it was all very interesting, she had never seen such a big harbour with so many different ships and so many men working on them already in the early morning.

Quay 6 was rather easy to find as it was one of the main quays. As they approached the quay they immediately found the 'Golden Hinde' as it was the only ship which wasn't a bulky hulk. The 'Golden Hinde' was a slender elegant caravel.

Some men were taking packages and tons on the ship while a short man was watching them. Even if the man was a bit short, even shorter than Koushiro, there was no doubt that the man was the captain, it seemed like an aura of authority was surrounding the man.

Together they walked closer to the man who seemed to be the captain. As they were a few steps away from him he turned around and looked at them curious. The first thing they noticed where his steel blue eyes which inspected Taichi and his companions thoroughly. He was a bit smaller than Koushiro and a bit thickset, but with his thick and curly reddish hair and a beard in similar fashion he was still a very impressive appearance, making clear who was in charge.

"Are you the captain of the Hinde?" asked Taichi friendly.

"I am, Captain Drake at your service." the captain answered politely.

"We need a quick passage to Busan, an unofficial passage." Said Taichi while he pulled out a small bag witch contained his gold.

A knowing grin appeared on Drake's face. "So I guess no names? No problem if the price is right. But I'm a bit concerned to take two women on my ship. Women on board bring bad luck and they make the men nervous. But if they stay in the cabins and don't confuse my men, I'll take them on board for some extra gold of course." Captain Drake spoke with a smirk while he played with his moustache.

"How much?" asked Taichi angrily.

"Ten gold per person and ten more in total because of the women. No reason to be pissed my young friend in four days you'll be in Busan. Follow me I'll show you your cabins. " said Drake in a charming way.

Taichi gestured Koushiro to take the lead and held Sora back at her arm. He put one of her daggers he had taken in her hand and closed her fist around the handle. "I want you to do whatever is necessary to protect my sister is something unexpected will happen.

Sora looked deep into his eyes. "I'll protect her as if she was my own sister."

Taichi gave her hand a tender squeeze. "Thank you."

Sora blushed a little bit and went off on board, while Taichi started to help Drake's men to bring the luggage on board and then also went on board.

He was very reliefed when he saw that the cabin of Hikari and Sora was very clean and properly furnished.

The flood had come quickly and soon the 'Golden Hinde' had left the Eastern Provinces behind.

Their travel to busan had been rather uneventful, appart from a bit rough sea during a storm. For Taichi, Sora, Koushiro and Takato it hadn't been the first time to travel by ship so it wasn't a big problem for them, but for Hikari who had never travelled over the seas before it was the hell she had become seasick quickly. Captain Drake's strictness hadn't made things easier, he still insisted that no man was allowed to stay in the women cabin for a longer amount of time not even Taichi.

It had been all on sora to look after Hikari and Sora had done everything she could to make things easier for Hikari.

Finally after nearly four days on the open sea the entered the harbour of Busan and the struggles of the travel had come to an end. Even Koushiro had to acknowledge Sora's engagement in helping Hikari dealing with her sea sickness.

As they left the 'Golden Hinde' they saw Busan for the first time, only Sora looked worried, for her it was not the first time in Busan and she didn't connect positive memories with the city.

Even if Taichi and Captain Drake really hadn't become friends they shook hands and wished farewell. Taichi looked a bit clueless at Sora and the luggage. "So what are we supposed to do now?"

Sora smirked. "Well we could go to the Vixen immediately or we could take a look around the beautiful city of Busan, it's up to you."

Even if she was still not feeling so well because of their journey across the sea Hikari couldn't help and started to giggle because of Sora's slightly sarcastic answer, earning a stern look from Koushiro. Taichi took a handcart from the quay for their luggage and Sora leads them deeper into the city.

Soon they came to the part of the town Taichi wanted to avoid the most. The most establishments in this part of the town were bars or houses were men payed for favours from ladies, which was nothing that he minded. But the fact that some of those establishments made advertisement with their famous selection of very young boys or girls, even younger than Hikari, to serve customers made him really worried and angry.

Hikari was too young to understand what was happening in those houses, but she was old enough and pretty enough that someone could try to kidnap her. Taichi walked much closer than usual beside her and put his left arm protective around her shoulder.

As they continued their way through the "Pleasure Quarter" they came to another harbour, a much smaller harbour than the one the 'Golden Hinde' had used to dock. According to the smell and what they saw this harbour was used for the fishing boats.

Sora lead them through a tight alley to a small marketplace. They turned left and stood in front of a big three storey house. While the walls of the two lower storeys looked a bit dirty and not very impressive, the wall of the third storey was painted with a dim yellow and surrounded by a wooden balcony, also the windows in the highest storey were covered by red and white curtains.

"This way." Sora said like she had been here hundred times before, while she opened the unlocked wooden front door.

They entered and found themselves in a small but nicely furnished lobby, the lobby only had one exit, appart from the one they had used to enter. Sora lead them straight to the door on the other side of the lobby. On both sides of the door stood guards with very colourful leather armour and helmets that hide their faces.

The guards nodded and let them pass through the door, directly behind it started a colonnade which was illuminated by the midday sun. the colonnade led them to a patio with a small pond in the middle. Taichi and Hikari were very impressed they had never seen such an architecture before, also Koushiro, who had once read in a book from the far west about similar architecture was amazed. Sora who had been here a couple of times before still was fascinated by the beauty of this place.

They walked through the atrium to the opposite side of the house and entered room with a big door which was already wide open. In the room the light was much dimmer than outside, but a few candles were lit for a welcoming atmosphere.

Inside the room was a big counter with a young girl behind it, wearing a skimpy dress. Next to the counter lead huge stairs to the first floor. The rest of the room was filled with six round tables with four chairs around each table. On the side opposite to the counter was a bar with a wide selection of various liqueurs.

Sora immediately walked to the girl behind the counter, at the same time two very muscular men with bald heads, wearing black togas came out of a side room and approached Taichi.

"Excuse me Sir, would you like to have your luggage stored during your stay?" one of the man asked with a surprisingly high and friendly voice.

For a moment Taichi wasn't sure how he should react.

"Yes this would be very nice." Answered Koushiro quickly before Taichi's silence became to awkward.

"As you wish." Both men bowed and took the luggage into a side room Taichi and the others hadn't noticed yet. When their luggage had been stored one of the men returned and gave Koushiro a wooden coin with a 17 engraved in it. "Show this coin to get your luggage back when you leave."

Koushiro thanked the man and gave him two gold, the man bowed and vanished into the side room as quickly as he had approached.

Sora gave the girl behind the counter a warm smile. "Hey is Rosann here I'd like to speak with her."

For a moment the girl looked very unsecure at Sora. Sora used that moment to take a closer look at the girl. She was pretty, her long black hair was branded together in a ponytail, her face was very filigree, her eyes sparkled like emeralds and her cheeks were covered by a lot of freckles, but her nose looked a bit odd; like it had been broken a couple of times in the past.

Eventually the girl started to speak when she heard that someone was coming down from the stairs. "I'm sorry but Rosann is currently with a customer."

"I understand, could you please tell her that: Sora is here and waiting for her." Sora said very kind.

The girl nodded. "Of course."

While sora was talking to the girl behind the counter an older woman in her 40's came from the stairs. Like the girl behind the counter she was wearing nothing but a skimpy dress that revealed a lot of her big busts. Her blonde hair already had lost a bit of colour, she came to the table where Taichi and his comrades sat. She looked at the three men and licked her lips.

"Hello I'm Clea, what can I do for the gentlemen?" the older woman asked with a very seductive voice.

Taichi and Koushiro told her friendly but stern that they weren't interested in any kind of service. Takato on the other hand had been a bit overwhelmed by the situation and before he had been able to answer, Clea had sat down on his lap.

"Uhm … e … exc … excuse me … m … madam, but I … I …don't think … that uhm this … you ... me … tha this is … not a good idea." stuttered Takato.

Clea just laughed. "oh what a shy boy you are, I like it." She said seductive and bit his ear, then she pressed his head against her big bust. "Come to mama, I know what's best for you."

Takato's head had been red before, but now it changed into an even more intense shade of red. Taichi and Koushiro needed all their self-control not to burst out in laughter while Hikari still tried to figure out what was going on.

By that time, Sora came back from the counter and immediately realized what was happening. "Come on Clea he is a young innocent boy don't ruin him."

The older lady sighed and stood up when she noticed Sora. "I just wanted to have some fun."

"You only live for the fun." Sora said while laughing a bit.

Clea also started to laugh, but much louder than Sora and went upstairs. As she had walked up the stairs halfway she turned around and beckoned at Takato. "That's true."

Sora went closer to the table and sat down next to Taichi. She locked at Takato and shook her head. "What a shame, so much blood and it's all in your head."

In this moment both Taichi and Koushiro lost it, they burst out in laughter.

"Brother what does Sora mean?" Hikari asked with all her innocence.

Immediately Taichi's body stiffed hearing the question of his sister. "I'll tell you when you are older."

Of course Hikari wasn't satisfied with Taichi's answer.

"I'm sorry Kari but this is adult talk it's nothing that should bother you until you are sixteen."

"That's unfair I want to know it right now." demanded Hikari.

Sora realized how uncomfortable the situation had become for Taichi and tried to intervene. "Hey Kari do you remember the trick I showed you on the ship?"

"Of course I remember ." responded Hikari proud.

Sora grabbed her dagger and slide it over the table towards Hikari. "Show it to your brother."

Hikari took the dagger and threw it up into the air, catching it with two fingers only a few seconds later. She repeated the task a few times again with a proud grin.

Taichi was absolutely not happy to see Hikari playing with a dagger, but it made him less uncomfortable than giving her 'the talk'. But nevertheless he wanted to complain about it, but was disrupted by another female voice.

"Sora, how long has it been since we met the last time?" an attractive woman in her late 20's, with curly black hair and rather dark skin, came down from the stairs. Her dress was even skimpier than the one from Clea.

Sora stood up and turned around. "Rosann" she said with a smile. "nice to see you." The two women shared a brief hug.

Taichi noticed that Rosann was a bit smaller than Sora, but definitely must be a few years older than sora or himself.

"So Sora what brings you to this glorious place." Asked Rosann curious.

Immediately Sora became very serious. "We need to see _her_."

Rosann understood what sora meant and also became more serious. "Is she waiting for? Does she know that you are coming?"

Sora shook her head. "No and no, but we need to meet her, it's pretty urgent."

Rosann for a moment looked very intense at Taichi like if she knew something about him, then a light smile appeared on her face. "You are lucky, you're the first who want to see her today. Follow me."

"Thank you a lot." Sora gave Rosann a few coins and gave the others a sign to follow her.

They approached the stairs and eventually reached the first floor of the building. The walls on the first floor all had been painted with a pattern of exotic floral ornaments. It felt like they walked around the whole first floor, but it was hard to tell how much they had actually seen, because the pattern on the wall always looked the same and also all the doors looked exactly same.

Finally Rosann opened one door and they entered a small room, which was poorly illuminated, but the really surprising thing was that the room was completely empty expect for some wooden stairs to go upward. They carefully walked up the stairs to the second floor which looked completely different than the one they came from.

The whole floor was made out of unpainted wood and was only illuminated by a few candles. Also the floor was rather tight and they didn't saw a door yet. On the end of the floor they saw a single spot of light which had to be a window.

As they came closer they noticed that this was one of the windows they had seen from the street. The only door they had seen so far on this floor was a on the right wall close to the window. The doorframe was covered with some runes of the Mori and old religious symbols of Taoism.

Rosann knocked the door three times very carefully. For a moment there was nothing but silence until the door swung open with a small creaking sound.

"You can go in now." Whispered Rosann to Sora and hurried back to the stairs.

Sora nodded and entered after giving the other a sign to follow her. As expected the first thing she saw was Benkei the Vixen's mute bodyguard. For Sora who wasn't here for the first time, Benkei's appearance wasn't that authoritative as for the others.

Benkei was at least a head taller than Taichi and was wearing a traditional Samurai armour, on his back he had a big No-dachi Katana while he was holding a Naginata in his right hand. Taichi noticed that Benkei's armour was completely grey which was a very unusual colour for a Samurai armour, for a short moment the idea that the armour could be completely made out of iron popped up in his head. A mask in the same colour hide his face.

As they walked further into the room they saw a huge escritoire in the middle of the room, with a slender person behind it. The face of the person was covered with golden mask shaped like a vixen's head. The mask only covered the face so that her red hair which she wore in spiky ponytail was still visible.

In the moment everybody had entered the vixen started to speak. "You are in big trouble Sora." The vixen said with a feminine but stern voice.

"I know Rika that's why I'm here." said Sora with a lot of concerns in her voice.

 **And this is where I'm going to end this chapter. As mentioned in the beginning I'll put this story on a little hinatus to continue with my other story. If you like this story please follow or favourite to keep track of it, because I absolutely don't know when I will update again, but I certainly will upgrade, at some point.**

 **As always pls R &R, I see you next time.**

 **sayonara**


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